


Of Banter, Supplies and Yellow Feathers

by Geniminty



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Banter, BrOT4, Bromance, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Male Friendship, OT4, lots of banter and teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3790084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geniminty/pseuds/Geniminty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the boys pull over at a local service with a chocobo farm, and Noctis insists they get a bird each.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Banter, Supplies and Yellow Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this really cute fanart and Prompto's hair.  
> I left my laptop bag with all my work in it back in my hometown, so during the time I was waiting for delivery, but I made use of it to write this banter-fluff thing of everybody's favourite XV boyband! This was pretty fun to write, and maybe it'll be a fun read too.

“Hey Noct, look over there.”

Prompto jogged up the hill excitedly with a huge grin on his face, pointing at a field on fences not too far ahead. He could hear the familiar calls of ‘kweh’ and the flaps of heavy feathers, and this only fuelled his uncontainable energy even more as he reached the top.

“They have a chocobo ranch!”

Gladio turned to his left on time to catch a glimpse of sparkle in the prince’s eyes. He almost looked like he wanted to skip up the lengthy hill, which says a lot seeing that he would have to invest double the effort to the movement of his legs if he wanted to upgrade his pace - appearing in the form of a steady shuffle. Royalty do not require exceeding the vigorous exercise of walking.

“So I wasn’t going crazy when I heard some happy tunes from a distance,” Noctis breathed, eventually falling in step with the blond. He paused to wipe the smallest sign of sweat forming on his brow from the light work out. His adviser and bodyguard followed shortly after.

“Maybe you really do speak chocobo,” Ignis pointed out, quite fascinated by this potentially new fact.

“I told you its intuition.”

“Okay it’s official, Lucis’ future king is confirmed to be a chocobo _whisperer_.”

“The only relevant skill to rule a kingdom, to be honest,” Gladio added, and high-fiving the gunner because great minds think alike. However, Ignis begged to differ as he made a small protesting noise whilst folding his arms across his chest.

“There is a lot more to successfully ruling a kingdom than being a bird radar,” It’s only natural he’d know, he spent almost all of his life learning about such things.

Prompto slowly nodded in thought with a hand on his chin, completely missing the eye roll Noctis made a show of. As much as he appreciated his adviser, the prince wasn’t entirely keen on the strict rules of their crown city and he had plans to change that, as soon as he gets Lucis rightfully back. Though right now, it seems they have more pressing matters at hand when the blond snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his friends with a serious expression.

“You’re right, Ignis,” Prompto agreed, catching the other three in surprise. The bespectacled man frowned, because there was no way the younger man would ever concede with the side of sensibility. There must be a catch, or the unlikely is happening, and Prompto _is_ finally showing signs of responsibility. Breaths were held.

“How could Noct even rule a country without truly interacting with a real chocobo?” Breathes were exhaled.  _Never mind._

“We need to go and fix that, buddy!”

Before anyone could protest, Prompto had already grabbed his friend's hand and ran towards the stables with a hearty laugh, followed by a stumbling Noctis in tow. Once the gunner gets moving, there was no stopping him and he wasn’t going to hold back just because they’re in public; appearance had never been a chain of restriction for nor does the gunner give a toss about what a stranger or two thinks.

Gladio and Ignis resisted the urge to facepalm at Prompto’s rowdy antics that fail to go unnoticed by the surrounding locals, still palms linked with the prince of Lucis – in which they are fairly lucky nobody had seem to recognise him in this area.

The royal adviser rocked back on his heel as he watched the two younger men of the group frolic towards the giant birds, with Noctis walking straight towards its beautiful plumage and burying his face in its feathers, whilst Prompto attempted to jump on it’s back before he got scolded by the head farmer. The pair of them looked like giggling high schoolers on their vacation, rather than a wanted felon and a supposedly dead man of royalty. It was quite funny in Ignis’ head.

“We only stopped over briefly to re-stock on our supplies,” the bespectacled man said tiredly, adjusting his glasses at the same time Prompto beamed at a nearing baby chocobo and tugging Noct towards the direction. They reminded him of energetic puppies out on their first walk.

Gladio looked at him and laughed.

“What were the chances this place had a chocobo ranch?” The larger man asked, smirking. Ignis could only sigh dramatically.

“Highness was looking far too happy when I parked the car. I should have known from there,” He shook his head at ignoring such an obvious sign.

“Get it together, Iggy,” Gladio teased, nudging the smaller man. “You’re supposed to be the sharpest tool in the box.”

The royal adviser waved a dismissive hand. “It’s been a long drive, I just need some air.”

“How much do you need? There’s a hefty amount out here.”

Gladio hardly withstood a glare.

“I’m just kidding.”

“And that is exactly why we barely get things done,” Ignis countered, fixing the tank with one of his looks. They came here for necessities, and he wasn’t about to get influenced by their shenanigans to forget about the essentials. This is the fourth stopover they’ve been to, and he wasn’t about to drive another 3 hours listening to whining about the lack of snacks or Prompto’s pleas of hunger, else _Etro_ knows what he’d do.

“Keep an eye on those two,” Ignis continued, nodding a head at the younger duo of the group. One’s a troublemaker and the other a trouble magnet. They’re possibly the best and worst combos ever. “Knowing them, they are bound to do something stupid without supervision.”

“You sound like their parent.” 

“I am. Yours too. You should call me father.”

Gladio cringed. “Please don’t.”

“Then be a good son and watch over them,” The tank tuts and proceeded to do his task by saluting to the open fields exaggeratedly with his eyes focused on their other two best friends.

“Splendid. I’ll go and do some shopping, so we can finally re-stock on our supplies,” A feat they’ve been trying to accomplish for the past three service stops, but were rudely interrupted.

Ignis hopped down the hill and turned to the right path, winding towards the service shop’s front door. Once his neat shoes touched flat ground, the adviser quickened his pace – fully aware they were pressed for time before those blasted empties find their location soon.

-

Luck was on their side as no Magitek troops had made an appearance yet and after almost an hour, Ignis had stepped out of the shop with full bags on each hand. Gladio watched him load the said bags unto the Regalia before turning back on time to see Noct stumble back after losing his balance at the sudden flap of wings and attempted to mask his surprise by acting cool. He received a laugh from Prompto, which quickly died down at the mean look sent his way. Gladio eventually joined in on the bird club and spent the next five minutes pampering the surrounding chocobos with gentle pets and packets of gysahl greens the three evenly shared when Prompto ran out of spare gil. The temporary peace was the moment Noctis looked up from where he had buried his hand in fluffy feathers and turned to his friends with shining eyes. To any other person, they would point out that he looked more awake than the usual but his close friends would see that their prince is, in fact,  _glowing._

Prompto mock shielded his eyes from the radiance, whilst the royal bodyguard grimaced slightly.

"You might wanna tune down on the brightness there, princess," Gladio mused at the unchanging expression of his childhood friend and the shine in his eyes intensified. Noctis ignored him and continued.

"I think we should all buy one."

Footsteps crunched against the crisp grass behind them presenting the entrance of a smartly dressed man, who participated on time to catch the tail of their conversation.

"I'm sorry? Buy what, exactly?" Ignis asked a little breathlessly. His outfit nor his upbringing prepared him from the damn, lengthy hill. He survived it earlier due to the fact that he kept a steady walking pace instead of sprinting like a Behemoth when he didn't find Gladio where he had left him. All the things these men do to shorten his life span, and yet he'd risk himself for them.

"Chocobos," Noctis beamed, dragging Ignis back to earth. The royal adviser thought he would never witness His Highness making an attempt to imitate the sun. Bright was beyond him. "Each."

The bespectacled man staggered as he felt the coming of an unwanted headache, and resisted the urge to make a show of rubbing his temples soothingly. Chocobos would definitely save them from trekking the far stretches of nature, and the thought of it would've been wonderful if only the estimated costs would not sum up to astronomical numbers. The idea was pretty, but so was the price and the last thing Ignis wanted is financial insecurity. There's a reason why he's the money man.

"Now why would you want to buy chocobos? We have the Regalia." _A finer, and comfier ride too._

"Also," Gladio added with a smirk as he clapped a heavy hand on the blond's smaller shoulder. He steered him next to a stable with a chocobo peeping out close to them, clearly taken in by the senseless chatter of these humans. "I believe we already have one."

Prompto frowned, the giant bird cooed. Noctis stared and Ignis nodded sagely.

" _Amazing_... It's like looking at the mirror."

"I know, right? It's okay, champ. I found your family for ya."

"Oi," Prompto complained, shrugging off Gladio's hold. "I'm not a chocobo!"

 "You must embrace your heritage," Ignis imparted, never failing his job as an adviser.

"Don't deny your blood in front of your family," Gladio added with an overdone disappointed look, but the twitch at the corners of his mouth indicated he's having way too much fun with this.

"Wow, I hate you all."

"We love you too." Ignis smiled sweetly.

The gunner was not impressed. Nor was he letting them get away with their teasing and opened his mouth to protest against this rouse, because as cute as chocobos are - a mutual trait they share - he did not squawk for food 24/7 or fight for the attention he deserves, _thank_ you very much. Well, he'd like to think he wasn't  _that_ bad. A chuckle from the dark haired man caught all their attention and Prompto decided he was not about to interrupt a rare melody.

"No wonder you're so quick on your feet," Noctis said with a small smile and Gladio laughed.

"Of course, compared to yours truly, you're Adamantoise speed," Prompto dodged a hit and flourished his arms as he pointed to himself with his thumb. "Where would you be without me?"

The tank playfully ruffled his golden hair and slowly guided the group back to their transport.

"We'd be here scouting in the stables for a replacement," the gunner pouted. "I'm just kidding. No chocobo can rival your adorable butt, champ."

"And if we were desperate, a wild one would be the best candidate," Ignis pointed, wrapping an arm around Prompto's slim shoulders and giving him a warm squeeze. The younger man wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but the pout he was sporting faded. 

"It would've been a lost cause. You'll never find another like me," Prompto declared, suddenly leaving the intimate gesture as he slid down the hill and quickly built up his pace. He turned towards the group with a smug smile that could only mean the start of bad ideas.

"Last one to the car gets the smallest portion of dinner tonight!" The blond stuck his tongue out before racing to the regalia at top speed, and it wasn't long till Gladio followed in hot pursuit. He has no plans to lose in order to decrease his already lacking portion of dinner, dammit. Even if it meant having a foot race against their gunner.

Noctis trudged back in stable steps, with his adviser beside him. They both watched as their two best friends clambered towards the Regalia paying no heed to the passing cars simultaneously tackling each other, up until they took their respective seats in the sleek vehicle. Ignis adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, breaking the comfortable silence between them. He turned to look at the prince with a small smirk, and Noctis could only guess at what he is about to say knowing that fixed stare he'd address to him too often.

"Still considering that we ought to buy one, Highness?" Ignis inquired, and there was a short pause till the younger man shook his head in response.

As much as he looked forward on riding chocoboback and the entire idea of having said bird an addition to his set of companions, he’s pretty content with how they currently are now. He would fight gods and worlds for the men he loved, highly regarding them as priceless gifts not event Etro could grant, because its _basic_ logic his friends are far beyond such value. He couldn’t have asked for anything better. That, and, _well_ – Ignis would faint at the huge decrease in their money. It sucks they no longer have access to the riches of the Royal Lucis bank account.

“I think we’re good with what we have,” Noctis smiled quietly, briefly looking at the blond yelling at them to get a move on. “I don’t think everyone can handle two Promptos, and ours is one of a kind.” _All of them are_ , he says inwardly. _Nobody can ever step up to fill their shoes_.

Ignis glanced at him with soft eyes. “Good,” he replies and places a gentle hand on the prince’s shoulder before continuing.

“Then we’re financially assured for a rented room in the next town. It is due time we sleep on proper beds,” The bespectacled man replied with half a smile, before it spread into a smirk. Noctis frowned and he wondered if he said something strange the other found amusing, or was there some sort of joke he didn't pick up on? Before he could even ask, the older man beat him to it.

“I’m afraid to say I’ll advance ahead, highness. You see,” Ignis retracted his hand from his shoulder to playfully give the prince’s arm a light pat. "I don’t have any intentions of getting the smallest bowl tonight," The rest of the sentence were said in a hurry as he ran down the rest of the hill, passing the service shop curving towards the road without dropping speed. Slightly baffled, Noct frowned mulling in thought for brief seconds and it’s only when he looked up to see Ignis carefully watching his crossing of the road, that the reality of being the _last_ one behind hit him last-minute.

 

Oh _no._

_-_

 

Prompto grumbled as he brought the last spoonful of his potluck stew to his mouth. Everyone else is still ravaging their plentiful bowls, obviously too preoccupied to pay attention his brooding, and he had the unfortunate luck of having the smallest bowl with only so much portion it could possibly contain. If only Ignis didn't pause at the final stretch to adjust his glasses, he would have totally won his bet with Gladio. Damn his eye sight and Noct's warping skills.

He moved in his seat and turn to the bespectacled man with a fixed look giving no room for argument. 

"You better keep your word of Behemoth Burgers tomorrow."

**Author's Note:**

> There was less chocobo action than intended.


End file.
